RICHMOND — Three years after the head of a gun violence-reduction program called for “top to bottom scrutiny,” a study has found that the majority of participants are alive and have not been injured, arrested or charged with a gun-related crime.

But the study did not reach any conclusions on whether the program, which has been hailed by some and criticized by others, can be credited for Richmond’s decline in violent crime in recent years.

Richmond’s Office of Neighborhood Safety, which receives about $1 million a year from the city, in addition to private grants, was created in 2007 to bring down the city’s high homicide rate, which that year hit 47 — about nine times the national average on a per-capita basis. The program reaches out to young people who are believed to be connected to gun violence and runs a fellowship in which participants are paid to stay out of trouble, while receiving mentoring, life skills and new coping strategies for dealing with problems.

The study, conducted by the National Council on Crime & Delinquency, a think tank, and released this summer, found that 94 percent of participants were alive, 84 percent had not suffered a gun-related injury and 79 had not been arrested since joining the program. However, the author also said she had no “statistical proof” that the program was single-handedly responsible for reducing violence, even as crime here has dropped to lows the city has not seen since the ’80s.

“This is part of a solution that the city of Richmond has implemented, although I can’t make an unequivocal statement about the program’s success,” said Angie Wolf, a researcher with the NCCD, adding that the study was a process evaluation, meant to look at the program’s structure and everyday functions, and not an outcome evaluation. “We still need more data, but it looks like they’re moving in the right direction.”

In addition to reductions in gun violence, half of the participants — tough criminals believed responsible for a large portion of the city’s shootings — obtained jobs during the fellowship, 20 percent received their GED or high school diploma during or after being part of the program, and 10 percent enrolled in college or vocational training, according to the study.

The numbers, including last year’s homicide total of 12, a drop of 80 percent since 1990, represent a clear success, said DeVone Boggan, director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety. By comparison, the national homicide rates dropped by about 50 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The point of the fellowship is to get these men to stop shooting as a conflict-resolution tool,” Boggan said. “I don’t care if they go to school. I don’t care if they get jobs. The point is to get them to deal with conflict in a more healthy way. Afterward, they can try to figure it all out like other healthy Americans.”

The program, which has received national attention for its controversial approach to reducing gun violence, will soon be replicated in Oakland, inside the Santa Clara County Probation Department, as well as in Toledo and Cleveland. Boggan is also in talks with other cities, where he frequently travels with fellows as a way to expose them to new experiences.

Over the past two years, ONS has spent $170,000 on travel and $100,000 on stipends, both of which were paid with private funds. City funds are spent on staff salaries and day-to-day operations of the program.

The program is controversial because it pays criminals to behave but also because ONS outreach workers don’t speak to the police, which critics say continues the historic distrust between law enforcement and communities of color.

Boggan said outreach workers need to maintain their credibility in the neighborhoods where they work and can’t be seen as collaborating with officers. However, Boggan acknowledges that he meets with law enforcement officials weekly to discuss efforts to thwart further gunfire.

Others have pushed for more accountability for the program, which they say the recent study does not offer.

“Crime is down all over the country,” said Corky Booz, a former Richmond councilman. “If you look at the millions that have been spent and divide it by the number of people it went to, I’m not sure we can justify the results.”

Boggan said the cost of the program pales in comparison with what taxpayers spend to treat gunshot victims and investigate homicides, estimated at $400,000 per homicide by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

“It’s a matter of courage and decision-making to redirect moneys the way they should be redirected,” Boggan said. “These young people are born and raised in the trauma of their neighborhoods, much like soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. If we have a heart for our veterans, why don’t we have the same support for our young people?”

Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay, Mayor Tom Butt and other leaders support ONS as one of the many tools the city has used to reduce violent crime.

“I think it has been effective in reducing gun violence, and I think the evaluation brought out some of that,” Lindsay said. “I also acknowledge that the police department has done an outstanding job in reducing gun violence, as has the Ceasefire program (which involves police and probation as well as social services.) It’s extremely difficult to isolate one piece of it and say ONS has contributed to reducing a certain number homicides this year.”

The Rev. Andre Shumake, who lobbied the city to create the program, said that while he is encouraged by the Office of Neighborhood Safety’s record, he is also frustrated by the lack of opportunities — such as employment training, mentoring and mental health — for many young people in Richmond, something also highlighted by the recent report.

“We have created an environment where the propensity to pick up a gun and take a life is no longer there, but what other avenues of opportunity will we create for them?” Shumake said.